mediocre drawer galore

Hello everyone, last night, I shared my insight regarding Ch. 157; now it's Ch. 158's turn to shine.

If I must say, under the neutral view, this chapter was a really emotional rollercoaster regarding one of the characters that shone so bright like a star... that character of course was Yoichi Saotome. If I'm honest, the chapter reminded me of that OST from CSM...

Let's begin!

The chapter takes the same set like the previous one, starting with Yoichi this time; he regrets the fact that Mitsuba got killed but along this, it's the voice or echo of pain knowing he has to face Yuu in the battlefield as enemies. However, before it starts, Yoichi has a flashback, a flashback when he got possessed for the 1st time.

Yoichi recalls strongly those words "I can't kill my friends". Those words echoed through Yoichi's mind the most; it was the 1st time Yuu said or stated Yoichi was his friend.

For Yoichi, it was like light finally fell upon him; the fact that now, the present looks more like a nightmare is something Yoichi would have never wanted.

Then, back to the present, Yoichi confronts Yuu; which is something the squad members rarely did when it came to voice their opinions or objections; Yoichi in this case chose honesty and said "You told me if you watched a family member die, you just couldn't kill friends anymore! You know you said that to me!". Then, "You called me a friend! You called me family! "So why are you on his side now?! Don't make everything you said a lie!"

This was something that was touched for the 1st time; when it comes to the story, adults are usually figures that rarely reflect trust as something my best friends @angepostsblog & @gurenisidiot tend to discuss. However, when it came to Yuu and company, there was never an ounce of hesitation, if anything, the squad would follow Yuu blindly, never questioning, never complaining; but, why was that? Easy. It all falls to "love". However, ever since they took different paths, ever since they learnt Yuu attacked them back in Ch. 119 at will; they felt hurt, they understood Yuu was walking his own path, yet Yoichi here wanted to confirm something; whether all those sweet words such as "family", "friends", "protect everyone", were merely sweet talk or were they honest words from Yuu's heart.

And to make a side note, the JP version is way more stronger than the EN version. By this, I don't say the EN version is bad; if anything, it catches perfectly the meaning behind. The JP version, especifically the last lines state "僕を友達にしたのに　僕を家族にしたのに　なのになんでそっちにいるんだよ!!　言った言葉の責任取れよっ!!"

In a rough translation, that'd be: Despite making me your friend! Despite making me your family! Why are you on that side?! Take responsibility of those words!!

Yoichi is actually questioning Yuu for saying those words lightly when for Yoichi, those words had heavy meaning. And of course, this is actually nice to see that for a character, words aren't mere decoration, if anything, they have depth, meaning but beyond that, they leave a mark deep down.

Despite this, the result is inevitable, they have to battle. But, within the start of the battle, we see something we never expected to see and that was Yoichi relying on his Seraph powers for once. While it's true Shinoa boosted them back in Ch. 139; Yoichi unlocked his powers back in Ch. 154.

This of course, took Saito by surprise; Yuu and Mikaela on the other hand chose to take an offensive approach because it was true, defend and they would have lost.

However... as the battle started going or rather, the balance was favoring Shinoa's squad, ultimately, one member within the squad hesitated.

That member was of course Shiho Kimizuki.

As an extra, Kiseki-O actually addressed Kimizuki as "Scumbag" in the JP version.

Kimizuki hesitated at last moment because, even if in Ch. 155 he faced his sister for the last time when she directly told him to treasure his new family; when in Ch. 156 Kimizuki gave a moral talk to Shinoa about not resurrecting anyone if they were bound to die along making her fulfill her promise; ultimately, the death of Mitsuba took a toll on his mind.

Kimizuki can't tell what he does is correct or not but the very fact that he recalls what Yuu told him about giving up; along the fact that he sees Yuu fighting; it was enough to make him doubt, to make him hesitate.

While it's true many view this as screwing the plan; in fact, narrative wise, it's good. As Kiseki-O mentioned, it's proof of being human; those kind of decisions are not easy to make, and it's more of a matter of the heart than just being reasonable.

This decision, of Kimizuki ultimately betraying Shinoa, Yoichi and pretty much Mitsuba's wish; ended on him siding with Yuu; which of course, for Kimizuki, the battle itself was simply just a stake of who stopped who; however, the real meaning of this battle was about halting Yuu vs letting Yuu kill the last remaining Sinful Key Sources along taking the 1st powers from Shinoa in order to cast the spell.

Though, this kind of detail was something nobody knew except Shinoa; however, she didn't know exactly "who" were those Sinful Key Sources. If anything, for her, those Sinful Key sourcers were pretty much akin to how things happened with the 6th Trumpet on which Guren had a prepared drug to extract the Sinful Key.

However, in this case, Saito didn't plan to extract those keys; if anything, it was to turn them into literal keys.

When Saito says "Sorry. We're turning you both into Sinful Keys" that was the moment Kimizuki knew he screwed up for good. Hence his apology to Yoichi. We didn't even see a glimpse of him fighting or anything, he accepted the outcome knowing that because he chose Yuu's side, ultimately, his purpose was to end up dead.

Yoichi on the other hand, despite literally witnessing horror, of seeing Kimizuki's body shift into a Sinful Key (which I don't know if it's a massive size or just the angle it landed...) Yoichi still chose to fight.

And because Saito underestimated the Squad; that moment when he got close to Yoichi, it was Checkmate.

Ultimately, Yoichi managed to invade Saito's heart and destroy him from the inside.

For those curious, Yoichi's "Hack" powers, are like a computer virus or spyware; you could say Yoichi infiltrates a system or a PC; in cases like Shinoa, Mitsuba and Kimizuki, his "hack" ability resulted more like a spyware; however, for Saito, his skill ended up as a "malware" ultimately sealing Saito's fate to become a demon.

Perhaps Yoichi's role in the story was shunned down because the author had to focus on the protagonist which is Yuu; this of course left the female protagonist sidelined many times despite having a slow silent development through the events of the story; however, Yoichi too had a silent development. What do I mean?

First of all, let's ponder these questions:

How was Yoichi like in the very beginning?

Was Yoichi brave when it came to his squad members? Was Yoichi the type to raise his voice or confront them?

Between the beginning and the end of his tale, how was his journey like? Could you see the changes he suffered?

To answer these questions; Yoichi was in fact rather timid, easy to bully, emotionally weak. When the squad was gradually getting made, Yoichi was seen as the weakest, Yuu and Kimizuki told Yoichi to drop and simply live in the school grounds; yet Yoichi chose to be brave; back when he got possessed in Ch. 7, Guren shouted out that he needed to stop hiding under the bed.

With the progress of chapters and the interactions the squad have; Yoichi eventually started to feel comfortable with his squad members, he wasn't the one to take a role of authority but he did try to convey his thoughts, such as the time when Kimizuki questioned Shinoa about telling Yuu the truth.

When Yoichi saw Mika back then in the Nagoya Arc; he wasn't afraid to die if it meant to make Mika return with them and have them as family; because the words Yuu told them along Guren's weren't mere decoration nor sweet pep talk; no, for Yoichi, those words had a heavy meaning.

Gradually with them leaving the Moon Demon Company and Demon Army; Yoichi learnt that the only members he could rely and trust were in fact his friends and squad members. Ever since then, despite the few battles he participated, Yoichi took his role as the knight just like Kimizuki and Yuu at that time.

He looked after Kimizuki because he saw how Kimizuki would be distant, and the least Yoichi wanted was for Kimizuki to wander on his own; he knew the value Mirai had in Kimizuki's life, hence why when Guren killed Mirai; this of course shattered the trust and idea of Guren. If they cooperated with Guren, it wasn't because they enjoyed it, rather, they became hostages.

Ultimately, when Shinoa finally had the will to stand up after Yuu's departure; it was when he too along his squad members chose to stand as well.

And with the events that took place since Ch. 153 till this chapter, Yoichi had the mental maturity one would expect in characters that are within the main cast.

Yoichi went through several changes in this journey; ultimately, even in his last moments, he could only pray.

Yoichi wasn't even grieving that Kimizuki betrayed them; he understood deep down that Kimizuki simply couldn't let go, it was something that in Ch. 153 till Ch. 155 pointed out; they never forced him to stay, if anything, they wanted him to decide what path to take. Yet, even if Kimizuki's heart hesitated; Yoichi held no grudge towards him.

The only concern Yoichi had was about Shinoa handling everything on her own; all Yoichi could ask was for that battle to end; that none of them dies, that simply, things such as the everlasting cursing cycle ends for good and that Shinoa and Yuu manage to find happiness.

As something to point out because I've seen some fans worrying about certain ship becoming a thing; though, even if Shinoa has feelings for Yuu; those feelings aren't made to make a "romance" trope or genre; those feelings were made to make her fall in the "lover hero trope" which her character falls perfectly in. And taking into account all the events so far, Shinoa's not the one to be thinking about romance given that the very person she has feelings for, is the same person that put an end to the very treasure in all those 16 years of missery, she ended up finding.

Alas, the chapter ends with Yuu and Shinoa utterly shocked when seeing that Yoichi and Kimizuki ended up turned as Sinful Keys.

If anything, it's clear Yuu was never expecting that kind of end for his friends, furthermore, I don't know whether it'll be possible for Yoichi and Kimizuki to be brought back considering they literally turned into objects, no remains of their bodies are left.

The chapter ended up in a bitter note; Rigr's death was pretty much something expected, it was something crystal clear given that he was an obstacle; however, so were Yoichi and Kimizuki. Just like certain volume of the Catastrophe mentioned, Yuu and Shinoa are ultimately the children of destiny, the ones who will give shape to the world.

The final battle is coming, and the result could lead to several outcomes despite how it may look.

Yoichi's death was something foreseen given that he was like that last lock or restrain set on Shinoa's powers for her to not take rash decisions; Kimizuki on the other hand was the one to pretty much match Yuu's pace but as seen in this chapter, Shinoa too could stand and exchange blows against Yuu.

The things I loved in this chapter were the confrontation, Yoichi's development until the very end and how impactful his death was. The very fact he managed to use his skill despite him gradually turning into a Sinful Key gives away the "human will" and how far that "will" will burn until the flame extinguishes.

Birds of a Feather [ORV Attack]

A special thanks to everyone involved for allowing me to upload this! ⬇️

Itsuki created by @emtvoid

Alice Soleil created by Azuliring